The present invention concerns a golfer""s watch, of the type including at least:
first and second counters, intended to count respectively the number of strokes necessary for the golfer to putt his ball into a hole of the course and the total number of strokes played, and each including display means, means for driving and means for positioning the display means,
control means, connected to said drive means and arranged to enable the user to increment the counters and to reset them to zero.
Golfer""s watches provided with several counters are known, for example from Swiss Patent No. 663,318. Such watches enable the golfer to regularly follow the progress of the round, with the indication of the results relating to the hole being played and the sum of the strokes played in the preceding holes.
It happens, relatively often, that an error in handling the control means, generally a push-button, leads to an erroneous result being displayed. In such case, the golfer resets this counter to zero and increments it to the correct result, or he does not count the next stroke. In the first case, the golfer has to perform a relatively long manipulation, in the second case, he has to remember not to count the next stroke. In both cases, his concentration and pleasure are reduced. This drawback makes the use of the watch tedious and results in a lack of interest in this type of product by the player, who then prefers to count the strokes by other means.
The invention proposes to overcome this drawback. This object is achieved owing to the fact that, in the watch according to the invention, the control means are arranged to also enable the user to decrement, at least, the first counter.
In a first embodiment, the control means are arranged to increment and decrement the first counter and to increment the second counter when the first counter is reset to zero. In this case, the second counter displays the number of strokes played as far as the last hole reached. Its total is only modified when the following hole is reached. The first counter is reset to zero after the stored number is added to the content of the second counter. In this embodiment, correction by decrementing only acts on the first counter.
This embodiment uses control means which include first and second push-buttons for respectively incrementing and decrementing the first counter, a third push-button for resetting the first counter to zero and for incrementing the second counter by as many strokes as the first counter counted prior to being reset to zero and a fourth push-button for controlling the resetting to zero of the second counter.
In a second embodiment, the control means are arranged to drive the first and second counters simultaneously during incrementing and decrementing. Consequently, the second counter displays the number of strokes played, including those of the last hole. Also, when a correction has to be made, it has to be made to both counters.
In this embodiment, it is advantageous for the control means to include a first push-button for incrementing the two counters, a second push-button for decrementing them, a third push-button for resetting the first counter to zero and a fourth push-button for resetting the first and second counters to zero.
Advantageously, the watch further includes a dial provided with apertures and the display means of the first counter are formed of a disc arranged behind the dial and provided with at least one portion forming a contrast with the latter, to display the number of strokes by means of dots visible through the apertures.